Charles River Clean Up Boat Update 09-6
Well it's time to recap the 2009
season. By nearly every measure, it was a great season.
First, and most importantly, it was a safe season.
There were no accidents, or injuries, in over 800 hours of
operation. I don't know the exact number of people who crewed on
the Lisa S this season, but it was about 250, and all had
safe and rewarding experience.
The other measure, that is very important, is how
clean did we keep the river. We got off to a great start, due to
the
Charles River Yacht Club adding 2 extra boats on the first
day. One cleaned the lagoons, and the other cleaned the islands,
while the Clean Up Boat cleaned the winter build up out of
Tugboat Cove
and the Museum steps. We had the river in "mid-season form" at
the end of the first week. We kept it clean thru the rainy
periods of May and June and had it sweeky clean for the 4th of
July fireworks. We scheduled extra trips following the 4th and
had the river clean again by July 10. Bob Gaffney had shoulder
surgery in August and we cut back to 3 trips on some weeks.
Funding issues played a role in this decision (more on that
later). We were ready to add trips if there was any significant
increase of trash on the river. Although there was more trash
picked up on each trip, there was no noticeable change in the
rivers appearence. In past years, I have received calls from
people telling of pockets of trash along the 7 miles of the
Charles we clean. I always make sure the next boat out cleans
these areas. This year I did not receive one call. All in all,
we, and I mean all 326 of us, did a great job of keeping the river
clean.
As to volunteers, this year was great. Robert
Canterbury posted the schedule in March, and by the time the first
trip left in late April, volunteers had filled the schedule well
into June. For the rest of the season crews had signed up weeks
in advance. At no point did we have to call people to fill
slots. The folks at the
Museum of Science
were great early in the season, and by the time school was out for
the summer, kids and their parents were filling in the open slots.
As I have told you previously, funding was more of
a problem this year than ever before. At the end of July we had a
sever short fall. In August we got some help, but not enough. We
cut back on the schedule. This helped a little, but is not an
efficient way to solve the problem. Deb Howe and I increased our
efforts to get some new donors. Mirant, the power company in
Cambridge, became a new donor. We have a couple of other
organizations who indicated they would make a donation, and
hopefully they will by the end of the year. We are banking on the
December donation from
Boston Duck Tours.
Two years ago, when funding was not a problem,
Cindy Brown for saw that the day would come when we would need
funding help. She set up a program that asked Duck Tour customers
if they would donate the change to round up their ticket purchse
to the next dollar, to charity. The Duck Tours then matches the
moneys donated. The total is then divided three ways between the
Boston Public Library, Community Boating. and the Charles River
Clean Up Boat. We won't know the exact amount until the end of
December, but projections predict we will be close.
One concern I have is that a donation check will be
lost in the mail. We acknowledge every donation promptly, usually
by E-mail. If anyone has made a donation and not received a thank
you E-mail, please contact me.
Mitch Lunin and I have made the season end repairs
to the Lisa S, and she is at Russo's Marine for service
and winter storage. We now have about 3200 hours of operation on
the engine and it has operated flawlessly for it's fourth season.
The holidays have started and it might be a good
time to take a moment and reflect on what we have collectively
accomplished. We took on the job of clearing, and keeping clean,
7 miles of the Charles River. The islands of floating trash are
gone from the basin. The mess from the 4th of July is gone in a
few days. There is no build up trash at every bridge abutment.
With the clean neatly trimmed shores, the heart of our
metropolatin area is beautiful for all to enjoy. You, everyone
reading this E-mail, played a part in making this happen. You
have all earned a pat on the back and the good sense of
accomplishment I hope you are feeling roght now. Enjoy the
feeling, you earned it.
Like the game of pin ball, the reward for doing a
good job is you get the opportunity to do it again next year. I
look forward to seeing all of you in the spring of 210.
Tom